'Fantastic Beasts': Here's who Colin Farrell is reportedly playing

Farrell has reportedly joined the cast of 'Fantastic' along with Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, and Ezra Miller. The actor is currently appearing in the newest season of the HBO drama 'True Detective.'

Actor Colin Farrell will apparently soon be starring in a much less bleak project than the HBO drama "True Detective."

Farrell has reportedly signed on to star in “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” the film written by “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling and set in Harry’s world. The actor will play a character known as Graves whom protagonist Newt Scamander encounters in New York.

“Fantastic” centers on Newt, who is an expert on magical creatures. Eddie Redmayne of “The Theory of Everything” will play Newt, while actors Ezra Miller, Alison Sudol, and Katherine Waterston have also signed on for the movie.

It will be interesting to see what role Graves plays in the story, about which “Potter” fans know very little. As young adult franchises have come to be big business in Hollywood, the casting of such crucial roles as Harry Potter and Katniss Everdeen have made headlines, but older actors have also been needed to fill the roles in these fictional worlds.

Many of them have attracted acclaimed actors, with the original “Potter” series starring such actors as Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, and Imelda Staunton. (The sheer number of characters in the “Potter” world and Rowling’s requirement that actors not be faking an accent means that there aren’t a lot of A-list British actors out there who haven't appeared in the “Potter” films.)

Movie series like “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent” have followed the lead of “Potter,” with critically beloved actors like Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julianne Moore coming on board for “Hunger” and Kate Winslet starring in the “Divergent” movie series.

Farrell joining “Fantastic” continues this trend. In addition to appearing in “Detective” (though in its less-acclaimed season), Farrell has starred in such critically-well-received films as “In Bruges,” “Crazy Heart,” and “The New World.” He won a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his work in “Bruges.”